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Georgia Northern Railway

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gano_leader Until the coming of Diesel, Georgia, more than any other region of the Deep South, was a the stronghold of a feudal barony of short lines which ran in florid and wonderful profusion through its scrub pine to lend character and meaning to travel. From its earliest beginnings, railroading in the Deep South reflected the character of the region it served in that it was archaic, feudal, individualistic, and at times eccentric.

Lucius Beebe & Charles Clegg - The Age of Steam - 1957

gano_state In the early 1890s, a small logging railroad ran from the community of Pidcock, Georgia, where it connected to the Savannah, Florida, & Western Railway, northward to a sawmill owned by the Quitman Lumber Company. The line was reorganized in 1891 as the Boston & Albany Railroad of Georgia, which extended the road as far as Moultrie. In 1895, the Pidcock family of Moultrie purchased the line and reorganized it as the Georgia Northern Railway. The railroad was operating between Albany, GA and Boston, GA by 1905 then began purchasing other railroads -- the Flint River & North Eastern, the Georgia, Ashburn, Sylvester & Camilla, and the Georgia, Southwestern & Gulf. The combination of these small lines become something of a shortline empire in the state, the so-called "Pidcock Lines." The Southern Railway took over the Georgia Northern in 1966, but the road maintained a separate corporate identity until 1993.

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1965 Official Guide ad / collection

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See also our sister Pidcock scrapbooks for Georgia, Ashburn, Sylvester & Camilla and Albany & Northern

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from Georgia Short Line Railroad Album
- Albert Langley / collection

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The Georgia Northern began in the early 1890s as a logging railroad running north from Pidcock, a logging community east of Boston owned by the Pidcock family. At about the same time, a group of area business men organized the Boston and Albany Railroad to build a common carrier line along the route of the logging tracks. Their company soon entered receivership and its assets were sold in 1894 to the Pidcocks, who renamed the line Georgia Northern.

Steve Storey - Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage

Motive Power

Georgia Northern #102

  • builder:ALCO Richmond
  • arrangement:4-6-0 Ten Wheeler
  • built:May 1923, Alco #64283
  • fuel:coal/water
  • notes:
  • blt Georgia Northern #102
    to Norton Coal Co #102, 1950s
    to Richard Jensen, 1965
    to Illinois Railway Museum, 1980s
    to End O Line Museum, 1993
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    Some time in the 1950s, #102 was sold to the Norton Coal Co., and worked at Ilsley, KY. It operated into the early 1960s, after which it was simply stored at the Ilsey property until bought by Richard Jensen in 1965. In 1984, the locomotive was sitting on a flatcar on the south side of Chicago, IL, waiting to be scrapped. Fortunately, #102 was spotted by an individual involved with the Illinois Railway Museum. Having located the owner, David Jensen’s daughter, the museum negotiated donation of the engine, where it remained until 1993 when it was sold to the End-O-Line.

    Robert Grant - rgusrail.com

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    See more current Georgia Northern #102 photos at Robert Grant's beautiful website

    Georgia Northern #105

  • builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
  • arrangement:2-8-2 Mikado
  • built:Mar 1929, Baldwin #60736
  • fuel:coal/water
  • notes:
  • blt Georgia Northern #105
    named "W. L. Joiner"
    to City of Moultrie GA, 1963
    on permanent display
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    Click to see Georgia Northern #105 plotted on a Google Maps page

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    Moultrie, Ga / May 2019 / RWH

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    Moultrie, Ga / May 2019 / RWH

    Georgia Northern #107

  • builder:ALCO Schenectady
  • arrangement:4-6-2 Pacific
  • class:65
  • built:May 1911, Alco #50133
  • fuel:coal/water
  • notes:
  • blt Florida East Coast #88
    to Georgia Northern #107
    to Thronateeska Heritage Center
    on display at Albany, Georgia
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    Albany, Ga / May 2019 / RWH

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    Albany, Ga / May 2019 / RWH

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    See also our complete Thronateeska Heritage Center scrapbook in Preservation

    Links / Sources

    This page was updated on 2019-06-03